Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Alberta Election 2012: Which Candidate Will Put Their Foot In Their Mouth First?

As we head into the second week of the 2012 Alberta provincial election campaign, I am still waiting for a candidate to create a nasty headline with some ill timed comment. Every campaign has these "foot in mouth" moments and while I am sure that there will be a few over the next few weeks, I am surprised that none have come from the Wildrose Party as of yet. Sure, we saw the stupid comment by a 23 year old female PCAA staffer, which kicked off a minor "fertili-tweet" flurry, but I am actually talking about candidate campaign mistakes.

While all parties seem to have an eclectic cross section of candidates, I think the upstart Wildrose has an even greater selection of rookie political candidates than most parties. The Wildrose members are a passionate bunch and I assume that most of them have joined this new party because of a variety of social or financial conservative touchstones that they are rabid about. Because of this passion, I am shocked that the candidates ( and most of the WRP twitter-esque types) have gone rather quiet as of late. That said, after reading Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid's article this morning, I really should not be all that surprised by the silence.

In the article, Don mentions that his local WRP candidate got a little spooked when he realized he was on Mr.Braid's doorstep! The nervous candidate then told Don that if he wanted to talk, he would "have to call the Wildrose campaign media team.' Hmmm....sounds like a classic gag order from the party executive to me! It is not hard to imagine the fear that the WRP executive must have when they imagine their candidates running wild and talking to reporters during an election. Without the complete control of the WRP executive talking points at hand ( or some sort of wireless microphone feeding the script to their candidate) they must be afraid that some sort of "foot in mouth" moment will sink the Wildrose campaign in an instant.

The majority of the (non-political) people I talk to still are not sure what the Wildrose is all about. To them, they feel that they are an "extreme right wing" party and I think that the Wildrose knows that a few crazy comments from their candidates will derail their "centrist" message and further cement the undecided voters ill informed image of them. With that in mind, I can see why it appears that there is an implied "gag order" in place. I would love to see the list of "DO NOT DISCUSS" issues that each candidate received in their training package. It will be interesting to see which candidate will be the first to get caught in a media scrum and stray from the official/approved talking points and get themselves in some hot water?

WRP is nothing but a provincial version of the Bloc. A political party who's members betrayed the people of Alberta. Unethically formed when its core founding members committed high treason keeping there seats after crossing the floor, refusing to give up there seats to a by-election and turning there backs on the people who voted for them. It is hard enough to trust or put faith in a politician and or a party. With that said, a party that is formed with such a disregard for ethics and morals has no place in a democratic society. It took federalist conservatives a long time to realize an old adage...United we stand, Divided we fall. WRP may win, but all of Alberta will lose.

I think M's Redford already put her foot in her mouth several times. (changing her mind about repayment for the "nothing meetings", this new deal for health care proposal and not having a full enquiry, even the .05 legislation is not popular, by not firing Hector Goudreau and more)

Why is everyone surprised when young people dont vote??!!!! Every platform is completely Based on families and seniors. I still think these things are important but what are they going to about rising tuition costs!!!

And the winner of the 'Foot In Mouth Contest' is... PC Candidate Ric McIver. (Who doesn't even live in Calgary-Hays so how does he know it best? - which ironically is his slogan...)

Ric certainly didn't do himself any favours going on Rutherford...

And when he arrived on my friend's door step and was asked about Alison's leadership he said, "she's no worse than anyone else." That's the PC party criteria for Premier? No worse than Stelmach?

I wasn't originally sold on WRP but I love Danielle Dollars. Clearly I'm better at saving my money than the AB government so let's see where I can invest it and then I'll give it to my grandchildren...

Thanks for the comments. Anon 6:24a,, Mciver was Alderman in this area for 9years. I gather you don't live in the riding either or you would have known it. He could walk from his home to the riding in fact. :)

Don't you just love how the PC's could not fix/repair schools, hospitals or build roads until this election time (not over the last 4years or even in this latest budget)...than there is money for everything. Was this planned? You bet, because the PC's will only give you something if you give them back something bigger-another big election win. Than they forget about you...until election time again when they remember whom pays the fat cheques.

This election is more about "PROTEST VOTING" and a chance to see real change offered by a fresh new group of politicans with a view to restore Alberta. Time that the electoral "cleaned house," and got back the respect of the MLA's that are there to represent us. Kick the PC's to the curb, it will send a clear message to all that represent us going forth.

Oh, so it comes to this! It all comes down to this! Somebody will put their foot in their mouth and they lose the turn to govern! Simply wonderful! Is that what it is all about? All on the basis of who "put their foot in their mouth"! Gullible voters ultimately deserve to get the people they elect to lead them and spend their money! How can a person be judged on a 90-minute snapshot?

How naive can the electorate be? Having seen elections here and around the world for over 50 years, there is one common theme I see, and it all happens ONLY prior to an election - the incumbent party will roll out the red carpet, do all the things or promise to do what it should have been doing all along during non-election years, and shamelessly waste OUR money to buy votes. Did the ruling party not have a chance to do all this way before the election?

And, why do I see posters for candidates, such as Kent Hehr, who never ever speak up or raise issues in the legislature during the term, but all of a sudden, magically transform into someone who really cares about the electorate? During the remainder of the term, all these backbenchers do is earn a fat salary and applaud someone else who has the good conscience to stand up and fight for his constituency! Shame!

All I can say is that generally smart people allow themselves to be manipulated prior to an election. I mean how difficult is it to see through these opportunistic promises that all this is done by candidates just to get elected. Albertans need to hold politicians' feet to the fire!

I will never ever forgive Alison Redford for making a decision I knew was wrong from the get go - assigning a post to Gary Mar who has been, for years, feeding at the public trough! I thought she was smarter than that! She brought it upon herself!